


Equestrian Magic

by Palefire73



Series: Loki Origins [31]
Category: Frigga - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Norse Gods - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Horse Racing, Olympia - Freeform, Seidr, The Hippodrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 16:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13462353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: Loki thoroughly enjoys watching the horse racing at the Hippodrome in Olympia in the early years of the new millennium and wants to see if he can go a bit faster on his pony when he gets home. Fun and games ensue...





	Equestrian Magic

**Author's Note:**

> We almost met Loki's new pony in "A Mother's Love" and I did promise Lady_Romanoff a story which mentioned him again, so here it is...

Dust rose into the shimmering heat wave as hundreds of hooves stirred it: the riders were as impatient as their steeds to get under way and, as the retaining ropes were dropped, muscular thighs bunched, hamstrings tightened and the horses leapt forward, goaded into motion by their jockeys. A roar rose from the crowd as the field of competitors accelerated down the plain towards the far-off turning point and excited spectators looked on to see if their chosen horse was anywhere near the front as the thunderous noise of the hooves striking the hard dirt faded.

 

The Hippodrome of Olympia was an impressive sight – and an impressive site. A large flat area some seven hundred and eighty metres in length, it was bordered by a natural hill to the north and artificially constructed earthen slopes to the south and west, upon which stood hundreds of spectators. The hot sun beat down upon the horses and their riders, and by the time they had made the perilous turn and were half way back along the track, sweat was already pouring off them.

 

Standing a short distance away from the nearest group of excited and noisy Greek onlookers, two figures - who were substantially larger in stature than the Greeks if one looked hard enough to notice - were also observing the race. It was not really that easy to see the two strangers however; it was almost as if they were not really there and as a consequence of this, none of the native people happened to spot them. The excitement of the days’ sporting events was also a convenient distraction, especially as these two “aliens” did not particularly want to attract unwanted attention. They were here to watch the races, but they were not of this world, and their presence could have caused problems. It was for this reason that the elder of the two was employing a glamour to avoid detection.

 

“Móðir! Oh Móðir! Look at them go, look at them!” Loki grabbed Frigga’s hand and jumped up and down excitedly, pointing at the crowded field of horses and riders which were now approaching them. The cloud of dust which billowed up from the baked earth suddenly parted and the horses appeared; black, brown and white forearms burst through, quickly followed by the muzzles of the fine animals galloping at great speed and Loki’s eyes boggled in admiration at how the riders just about managed to remain on them. However, as they began to round the turning point, a few unfortunates collided and the riders were exceptionally lucky to fall fairly safely and roll out of the way of the hooves of the horses behind them. Loki’s hands shot up to cover his face as one dismounted rider came very close to being trampled and he squeaked in distress.

“It is all right, Loki.” Soothed Frigga, “He got away.”

The young Prince lowered his hands cautiously and sighed with relief as he saw the man scramble to the spectator’s area to watch his horse continue to gallop away without him. Loki quickly lost interest and watched the receding racers; they would be back round just one more time and then the winner would be decided as he passed a large wooden post adorned with bright bands of colour. Each rider had clothing with particularly colourful patterns in order to identify them and there was great gain to be had by winning this race; the victor would be crowned with a garland and lauded all afternoon as the greatest horseman.

 

As a treat, Frigga had allowed Loki to have a small wager with her as to whom he thought might win the race and he had chosen a fine chestnut whose rider wore blue breeches and had bands of gold about his upper arms. Frigga had chosen an older rider sporting a fine Doric chiton in blazing red and, amazingly, these two riders were now jostling for a position in the first half dozen or so competitors of the race as they began to charge down the home straight. Only two hundred metres from the finishing post, they goaded their mounts to gallop even faster despite the animals’ heaving sides and foaming mouths. Loki began to cheer and jump up and down as excitement overtook him and it was with a wide and happy smile that he accepted a small coin from Frigga in recognition of his chosen pair having won by the narrowest of margins. It was struck in gold and on one side it had a picture of a man with a stylised cross behind him. “Christ”, explained Frigga, “He is the son of One who is worshipped by many in this area of Midgard…”

“They do not worship you and Fadir here, Móðir?” Loki’s voice sounded puzzled.

“No, my dear sweet boy, they do not. The mortals of Midgard have free will. Some of them were granted it to a certain extent by the All Father and his brothers, but there are many Gods who have had a hand in gifting the mortals and we are not the only ones. It is difficult for us to understand, but the conflict caused by these short-lived Midgardians’ varying beliefs creates much harm amongst them.”

“I do not understand.”

“No, and perhaps they do not, deep down. Now… look on the other side and you will see the ruler of these parts. He is Constantine the Ninth and he is married to Zoë, the Empress, although her health is failing and I fear she is not long for the mortal realm. They use these pieces of gold to trade for goods, and they consider them to be valuable. Put it away now. It is time for us to return to Asgard…”

“But, Móðir….”

“‘But’ nothing! Come along, you have had quite enough excitement for one day.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“… and they were galloping along at great speed and they were dressed in all manner of colours and Móðir and I chose the ones we wanted to win, and mine did! Móðir gave me a special coin that shows their Gods and Kings and it is made of gold and…”

 

The groom smiled politely at his Prince as he ensured all the various straps were secure and that the reins were of the correct length. Loki had been talking non-stop about his recent visit to Midgard ever since he had arrived at the stables to come to attend to and then ride his pony, Tân Golau. The little boy had been coming to the stables every week ever since he had been gifted the animal and had quickly overcome his trepidation about being so high up and having to get used to working with another sentient being with a mind and will of its own. Up to now, he had usually had someone leading Tân, or had only broken into a slight trot for a few minutes before slowing back down to a walk. Most of his time, however, had been spent learning all the various equestrian terms for the pieces of equipment and what they were meant to do. He had learned the basics of caring for his pony, including feeding him, grooming him and mucking out the stable. It was a source of amusement for those who frequented the stables when they saw Loki following his groom with a small wheelbarrow of his own piled high with the soiled straw, taking it to the large muck heap which lay at the far side of the exercise field, but he was determined to learn everything about how to care for the animal, even that.

 

“... who is called Costine of the Nine and his wife is dying and they fight a lot on Midgard because they cannot agree who their true Gods are, would you believe?!” Loki continued his job of brushing Tân’s coat as far up as he could reach and the groom carefully placed a black velvet covered helmet on his Prince’s head.

 

“Good morning Jonas.” The groom bowed deeply at the waist and kissed Frigga’s proffered hand as she appeared in the doorway, then smiled widely at his Queen as she glanced at Loki, who had not noticed her arrival because he was still chattering away. Jonas lowered his eyes deferentially as Frigga looked back to him, but not before he caught her conspiratorial grin. He grinned back and bowed again before handing her the reins and leaving her to spend some time with her son.

 

“.... and Fadir says they are often still so barbaric in their ways. Do you know they eat their horses in some areas? He told me to keep that a secret from Móðir because he knew it would upset her if she found out I know and they are also...” Frigga cleared her throat and gave Loki a patient look. The little boy stiffened at the sound and the hand holding the curry comb slowly lowered as he turned to face her.

 

“Good morning, my Prince, how do you fare on this fine day?” Frigga smiled kindly and reached out to stroke his ruddy cheek.

“I... er I am well, Móðir, thank you.” He smiled a little nervously, wondering if he was going to be in trouble for his loose-tongued comments. However, Frigga could see he had learned his lesson without the need for admonishment and she decided to let it pass. “Are you ready to go out on Tân Golau?” Loki’s big blue eyes brightened and he nodded eagerly, his helmet wobbling about because the strap hadn’t been secured. “Oh yes! I would very much like to try doing a bit more trotting to see if I like it. Tân is so patient and I think he likes me.” He wandered over to where all the tack and equipment was kept and returned the curry comb to its place, then Frigga helped him to secure the strap of his helmet and they walked Tân out to the exercise field, where there were already a couple of children out on their ponies with their tutors watching on.

 

Loki used a mounting block to get up in the saddle and then Frigga held the gate open for him to go through into the field. She moved round to stand against the fence as Loki got comfortable with the reins and placed his booted feet in the stirrups, and then she waved as he gently goaded Tân into a walk. Pony and rider walked past her a few times and she reminded Loki of good posture and to keep his heels down as he warmed to the exercise. It was not long until he approached Frigga and the beautiful Queen stroked the velvety nose of the pony as Loki asked, “May I try going faster, Móðir?”

“Of course, Loki. Just remember how to sit and to move with Tân... and simply slow him down if it feels too fast.” Inside, Frigga had the nervousness any parent has when watching their child try out new activities that carry an element of risk, but she knew that in order for Loki to grow and develop as a person, she had to allow him to do these things. More importantly, she had to try to disguise her own fears so as not to influence him negatively. She climbed up onto the lower slat of the fence and leaned over to kiss the young Prince on his cheek, “Go on, have fun!”

 

Loki grinned happily and squeezed his legs slightly, signalling the pony to move. As Tân started to make his way along the exercise field, Loki carefully applied the physical signals he had been taught and felt the pony’s gait start to alter. Before he had time to become worried as to whether they would both get from walking to trotting successfully, they were away, and he had to think about how he needed to alter his riding. It was a bit uncomfortable at first and a couple of times he hit the saddle incorrectly, but by the third time they passed Frigga, he had got into the rhythm and he was having the time of his life.

 

One thing about certain children, however, is that they quickly see how other children are doing at an activity and, no matter what the difference may be in size, experience or talent, they want to be able to do as well as them immediately. Loki happened to have an element of this trait and, as he rode up and down his side of the field becoming more and more confident, he happened to notice that some of the other children being tutored were starting to learn how to ask their horses to increase their speed from a trot into a canter. He did not intend to be a bit jealous of how advanced they were; it simply happened naturally and, without thinking, he dug his heels into the flanks of Tân in a crude imitation of what he thought he was seeing them do to change gait. Unfortunately, he had got it all wrong and had been fairly clumsy; his heels got Tân in a particularly sensitive spot and the jolt on his nerves shocked him. With absolutely no notice, the poor pony leapt forward and Loki only just managed to keep hold of the reins as the momentum threw him backwards.

 

Frigga looked on in horror as Tân suddenly reared and shot off down the exercise field at a fair pace, with Loki hanging on for dear life. The little boy’s feet only just stayed in the stirrups, but were of no use to him as his legs bounced around and his bottom struck the saddle repeatedly at what seemed to be utterly the wrong rhythm. A few of the other riders and their tutors noticed the pair of them streaking off, but no one knew quite what to do, instead staring after them helplessly. They could only hope that Loki would somehow regain his balance, rein in Tân’s head and somehow get him to slow down again.

But it was not to be. As if being on a runaway pony was not quite enough, they galloped past a particularly tall fence post and Tân got spooked and bucked before skidding to a sudden halt. This fence post had always been there; it was an intrinsic part of the fencing around the exercise field and there was nothing different about it that day. Yet, in the inimitable style of ponies prone to being spooked by the most innocuous of things, Tân had decided that the post was suspicious and scary and had reacted accordingly. As Loki sailed through the air, heading straight for the giant muck pile that was at that end of the exercise field, he was at a loss as to just why Tân had thrown him, but he quickly realised that he was in for a very unpleasant landing as a consequence.

 

As she ran down the side of the fence in a useless attempt to somehow save her son from his inevitably smelly fate, Frigga was also thinking that perhaps the riding lessons should be taken with a proper tutor from now on, an idea that was shared with the vast majority of those who could see what was about to happen. Tân was trotting backwards and forwards between the muck pile and the view of the children and tutors up the other end of the field, however and there were a fair few that were relieved to not have to witness the young Prince’s doom. Loki closed his eyes in anticipation of the impact, Tân wasn’t particularly bothered about Loki but was still scared of the fence post and Frigga realised she was far too late to prevent Loki landing in the ripe mound of muck and straw.

 

However, there was one thing that no one had considered and it was something that perhaps was simply not known about by a lot of people. Yet, it was something that was known about by both Loki and Frigga. Fortunately for Loki, it had developed enough that it had got to the point where it had begun to be second nature, in a similar fashion to breathing, or blinking. As he reached the apex of his trajectory from Tân’s back and started on the descent towards the muck pile, a burst of iridescent blue came from his outstretched hands and formed a cloud in front of him. Roughly the same size as Tân, it was various shimmering shades of blue, with tiny sparkling blue-tinted dust motes swirling around inside. Loki hit this cloud of Seidr and it enveloped him, turned him the right way up and lowered him to the ground where he landed on his feet just inches away from the edge of the muck heap. A couple of seconds later, Frigga skidded to a halt on the other side of the fence before vaulting over with impressive athletic prowess and she quickly came to see how her son was. She had witnessed the whole thing, unlike the people at the other end of the field, whose view was obscured by both the distance and Loki’s distressed pony – who had, amazingly, calmed down and was simply eyeing them both up suspiciously.

 

“Loki, Loki, are you well?! Are you hurt? What happened? Why did Tân bolt like that?” The Queen of Asgard looked over her son, but could not see anything wrong with him, apart from being a bit shaken by the experience. He looked up at her with those beautiful blue eyes, in which one could so easily become lost; his expression was a little puzzled, but also stunned at what had happened to him.

“Móðir...” There were questions there, but he did not know how to ask. Frigga crouched down in front of him and took him in her arms, whereupon the little boy melted into her embrace and they hugged for several moments. “How did I do that?” He eventually asked and Frigga hugged him even tighter.

“Your Seidr, Loki. It grows ever stronger and it is becoming your protector. The more you use it, listen to it, feel it... the more it becomes a part of you and it will always be there for you when you need it, just like the air you breathe.” She let go of him and drew back so she could look at his young face, which had come so close to being covered in horse muck. “You will work together seemlessly one day, Loki. One day you will stop thinking about how to wield your Seidr and then... then you will become stronger than you have ever been before. But you must promise me one thing, Loki.” Her own eyes became serious as she waited for his reply.

“I will, Móðir. What is it?”

“I can feel your power, Loki, and, even in its infancy, it is greater than mine. I will help you to grow with it and to become one with it. I will help you to contain it and to use it for great purpose. Yet there will be times when you will be tempted to unleash it in moments of rage, or of jealousy, or pain. Those will be the times when you could cause great harm, harm which you will not be able to undo and so… _promise_ me, Loki. Promise me you will heed my warnings and try _never_ to do such a thing?”

 

The little boy was staring at her with wide eyes and he shook his head as if he could not understand her. “I would never hurt someone with my Seidr! Are we not gifted with it in order that we may do good?” He conjured a tiny blue butterfly, which flitted from his fingers and landed on her nose before disappearing in a puff of blue shimmering dust, and she giggled as he turned to walk over to Tân, clicking his tongue reassuringly. He gathered the reins and brought the pony back over to her with a big smile on his face, but suddenly yawned.

 

“I think it is time for a nap!” She laughed, and the two of them headed back down the field towards the stables, glad that the misadventure had not had an unhappy ending.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the story and that 2018 is being good to you so far. I completed my 1st half marathon at weekend in some of the most dreadful weather I have ever run in. People were being treated for hypothermia, it was that nasty. However, I got my second best time at that distance ever and, in retrospect, I am quite proud of the fact that I managed to complete it safely and in a decent time. So, my message here is: go for it! Prove to the world that you CAN. If you have a talent, don't hide it away! Instead share it, allow it to shine... be proud of it.
> 
> Lots of #Loki love to you all,
> 
> Palefire73  
> x


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